By Sam Canfield, BDN Staff
In a nail biter that featured eight second-half lead changes, the No. 4 Katahdin Cougars outlasted No. 5 Easton 55-51 on Monday, in the regional quarterfinals of the Class D North boys basketball tournament at the Cross Center in Bangor.
The Cougars from Stacyville improved to 17-2 on the season, and will play No. 1 Schenck on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 8:30 p.m. Easton finished its season 14-5.
The drama in Monday morning’s game began right from tipoff, when the Bears surprisingly scored the game’s first 13 points, despite an early Katahdin timeout and the Cougars’ undefeated record against D North opposition. Clawing their way back into the game, the Cougars took a 22-20 lead with four minutes to go in the second quarter, but trailed at halftime down 27-26.
When play resumed, the two sides continued to trade blows, culminating in a dramatic final few minutes in which Katahdin had their two leading scorers foul out and nearly lose grip of a 52-48 lead. In a shocking series of plays, Katahdin’s sophomore guard Calvin Richardson (14 points, two assists, two steals, five fouls) was whistled for a personal foul and then a technical, and Easton senior guard Owen Sweeney (15 points, two assists, seven steals) made three consecutive foul shots to cut it to 52-51 with 1:30 remaining.
Channeling their playoff experience, the Cougars got a defensive stop on the ensuing inbound, and proceeded to keep the Bears off the scoreboard until the final buzzer. Sweeney had a chance to tie it 54-54 with a 3-pointer in Easton’s final possession, but it rimmed out and Katahdin freshman Bryten Hartsgrove (five points) sealed it with a foul shot on the other end.
It was Katahdin’s first regional quarterfinal victory in a while after coming up short the last two postseasons.
Easton junior guard Chase Flewelling led all scorers Monday morning with 19 points, and senior teammate Dawson Lamoreau would tack on nine for the Bears. The Cougars’ leading scorer was junior forward Connor Edwards (15 points, four assists, two steals, five fouls), and their leading assist man was senior guard Josiah Rodgerson with five.
Katahdin junior forward Josh Martin would add 11 points, two offensive boards and two steals, and junior guard Sam Boone scored six with two assists.
